Archive for Software

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FontForge looks like it might be a decent open-source font editor. Has anyone tried it? A free software package that performed comparably to FontLab would be awesome.

Hrant Papazian is teaching an Introduction to Typeface Design class at Art Center in Pasadena. It looks like a great crash course in type design for only $200 (at a very respected school, no less). I was thinking about it myself, since it’s about 2 blocks from my job, but this working stiff can’t make 4-7pm classes.

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I really wish that I would remember to use STC fontBrowser. Instead of using the handy web app to see what a given text sample looks like in any of the fonts I have installed on my system, I always use Photoshop to awkwardly run through all my fonts. Instead of dealing with easily overrun text boxes and inverted colors, I should just plug my text (”My Totally Awesome Homepage!“) into fontBrowser and let it do the work. But I always forget.

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Later this week we’ll be taking an exhaustive and eye-straining look at the world of bitmap fonts, those tiny pixel-based typefaces that were all the rage a couple years ago. (Oh, and also back before computers had things like vector fonts, GUIs and USB-powered coffee mug heaters). But before you leech everyone else’s fonts, you might want to check out BitFontMaker. The web application allows you to design your own bitmap font pixel by pixel, then download your creation in .ttf format.

Designing your own typeface, even in simple bitmap form, is a good introduction to the frustrating creative realities of type design. Once you’ve struggled with maintaining a consistent look and feel with your little pixel font, you might appreciate the work of those designers whose fonts you’re hoarding just a little bit more.